An Unorthodox Proposal
by atruwriter
Summary: Fred planned exactly what he was going to say, but when it was time to say it, the words came out all wrong. Hermione's got the general idea though. :FHr OneShot:


_**An Unorthodox Proposal  
**_**by**: _atruwriter__**  
**_1/1

"I want to have your babies... Er... That didn't come out right." Fred flushed, closing his eyes tight and chewing the inside of his lip. "I want to... have your... babies?" he asked, his brow furrowing. He shook his head rapidly. "Shuddup Ron!"

The snickering of his youngest brother seriously wasn't helping his train of thought. He'd planned this! Really, he had. He'd gone over it a million times. With the kneeling and the hand holding and the ring in his pocket. He'd look up at her, see the happy tears in her eyes, and he'd proclaim words so lovely it'd have the whole table sobbing. Instead, he was telling her he'd overrule natural anatomy and carry her children. What the bloody hell?

He muttered to himself and looked back up at her from his kneeling position. His legs were beginning to cramp but he had a feeling that wasn't all that important in the grand scheme of things. _I can do this_, he chanted in his head. _Just spit it out already_, he ordered himself. It was a simple proposal. He already knew she'd say yes. If she was going to say no, she'd have cut him off by now, but she was staring at him knowingly and simply waiting patiently.

"I want to have your babies!" he blurted out, this time a little more forcefully and he almost felt like the one who should be sobbing. Only this time it was over his stupidity rather than his cunning with words. His chin fell, head hung low in disappointment in himself. Why wasn't it coming out right? The words weren't that hard! _Will you marry me_? There, he'd just thought it. Now if only his mouth would create it already.

"Knock it off, Ronald," Hermione ordered before turning a glare on the rest of the Weasleys surrounding them, all of which were covering their mouths to stop the laughter from escaping. Ron wasn't even trying to hide his amusement, guffawing and slapping his knee as he howled. Sure, he hadn't taken the most eloquent approach, but did he really need to be snickered at? He was supposed to be baring his soul and instead he was shouting about male pregnancy? He suddenly wondered if George had pranked him. He'd known of his decision to propose and made a big show of saying it was Fred's downfall; that the world of pranking was surely going to suffer because of the unsavory match.

So, he and Hermione didn't see eye to eye on everything. She still firmly believed that following the rules was a must and that pranking everybody on a regular basis was just cruel and unusual behavior. But she loved him despite his enjoyment of putting fake spiders wherever Ron would be and creating havoc for the next batch of Hogwarts students, though she herself was a staunch prefect and Headgirl during her schooling days and still upheld the restraints on students. She put up with the many explosions that came from the potions lab in the back room of their shop, just below their flat. And instead of avoiding him when he smelled of various botched inventions, she learned the latest in potions to get rid of the smell and often ran him a bath, joining him in the hot bubbles when he was lucky. She valued her books more than a prank, but she enjoyed his honest and fresh outlook on life more than she cared to admit. He still didn't put himself into reading about the history of anything and he never went back to Hogwarts to finish out his last year, but he put his all into his pranks and he showed her his brilliance with each new invention.

They got on better than most thought they would. Outlasting the two weeks max Ron had predicted and the various other bets that never made it past a year never came to fruition. They were brought together when she stopped in with lunch made by Mrs. Weasley for him and George. Since his twin was out of the shop, he invited Hermione to share it with him and they evolved from there. More and more lunches together became dinners out or spending an evening together and before long they were a couple. They were going strong three and a half years now and he didn't plan on it ending, which is why he was still kneeling, his tongue tied and the most moronic of words exiting him. He dearly hoped he wouldn't say it again, because he was fairly certain that much stupidity would surely turn her yes into a no.

She sighed softly and then said in a gentle but rather serious voice, "What you really mean to say is that you've loved me for three years now and despite what everyone else thinks, you know, beyond a doubt, that you'll love me until we're old and wrinkly and nobody can understand a word we're saying, even though you're repeating the same old jokes over and over again."

Hermione smiled at him fondly, her brown eyes catching his and holding on. "That you don't want to have my children, which despite the great break throughs magic has made is still impossible, but that you want to have children with me. That you want brilliant and mischievous little red haired kids running around us and that you'll even let me turn them into bookworms as long as you have the freedom to tell them your every prank and nurture that same quirk in them."

She squeezed his hand, reaching out with her other to cup his cheek. "What you're really saying is that you love me and you want to marry me and you don't give a flying broomstick what the rest of our friends and family think because you love it when I become bossy, if only because you think I'm beautiful when my face is flushed and I get so involved that you simply want to kiss me senseless." She nodded her head, as if making it so.

Fred stared at her, that overwhelming worry over saying the wrong thing melting away completely. "You forgot that I love your cooking and you make a mean bubble bath," he added, nodding as his mouth turned up in a grin.

Hermione chuckled, her eyes filling with tears again. "Yes, Fred Weasley, I'll marry you."

"Well with a proposal like mine, how could you resist?" he asked, lifting his brows. He pulled the ring out from his pocket and slipped it onto her slim finger, kissing the top of her hand and holding tight to it, pride swelling in his chest. She was his now. Despite the uncertainty of friends and family, they'd made it through. They were as close as they could be and he couldn't ask for a better person to share the rest of his life with.

"Oh, that was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard!" he heard his mum exclaim tearfully.

"Yeah, I'll have to take a leaf from your book, eh Freddie?" George teased, winking. Turning to his girlfriend, he sent her a charming smirk. "Alicia, darling, what would you say if I told you I wanted to bear your babies?"

"Better you than me," she replied, lifting her drink and taking a sip nonchalantly.

Fred snorted, shaking his head and looking up at his new fiancée. Hermione leaned forward, resting her forehead against his. "Sorry," he told her, lifting a shoulder in a apology. "I had something much more heartfelt planned."

"I liked it just the way it was," she replied, nuzzling his nose with hers. "You never know, the healers could have a breakthrough and you might just get your wish."

Fred felt panic rise in his chest and his face blanch. He feigned a smile but knew he'd faltered when she laughed richly.

"Oh honestly, Fred, you don't have the hips for it!" she exclaimed.

"Oi! I have lovely hips," he retorted before capturing her laughing mouth in a kiss. She melted into him, arms wrapping around his neck and mouth slanting to meet his. He felt her sigh contently and tasted the sweet and milky flavor of butterbeer on her tongue. He could get used to this, he decided. And he had a whole lifetime to do it.

* * *

**A/N** _Honestly, I have been doing my best to try and get chapters written. My grandmother is currently in the hospital and she recently had a heartattack while there. My best friends 20th birthday is coming up and I'm planning her party. My sister just started her last year in high school and calls me for homework help and advice. And my mom is going through a personal crisis. So, I have a lot on my plate. I've been battling some writer's block and came up with four one-shots and have started a few chapters to a few of my stories. So no worries, there will be an update to them soon. Please, bear with with me! _

_I__ hope you enjoyed this. It was short, I know, but I was reading through various Fred/Hermione stories for my C2 "**Brilliant Mischief**" dedicated wholly to this couple and the sentence, "I want to have your babies!" popped into my head and I figured Fred would fit the part beautifully. So, per usual, please review, it's very appreciated._

_Thank you for reading!  
Much Love,  
-**Amanda**_


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